Many of the extraordinary cultural artifacts of ancient Peru, from the lines of Nazca to the great pyramids of the coast, and the temple-cult of Chavin, buried in the mountains, have only started to give up their secrets in the past few years. BBC documentary director Hugh Thomson has been at the forefront of some of these discoveries himself, having made headlines with his work near Machu Picchu. In this personal and accessible follow-up to his book on the Incas, The White Rock, Thomson takes the reader on a journey even further back, to the dawn of Andean civilization, to describe wonders that have been recently revealed.

"History, archaeological puzzle-solving, ethnography and traveler's tales are combined in this account of Hugh Thomson's extensive travels through the principal sites of ancient Peru, leading the reader on a dizzying tour through five turbulent millennia. The cumulative effect is enthralling."—Times (London)